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Quaternary Science Journal GEOZON SCIENCE MEDIA Volume 63 / Number 1 / 2014 / 44-59 / DOI 10.3285/eg.63.1.03 ISSN 0424-7116 E&G www.quaternary-science.net Ice-Rafted Erratics and Bergmounds from Pleistocene Outburst Floods, Rattlesnake Mountain, Washington, USA Bruce N. Bjornstad How to cite: Bjornstad, B. N. (2014): Ice-Rafted Erratics and Bergmounds from Pleistocene Outburst Floods, Rattlesnake Mountain, Washing- ton, USA. – E&G Quaternary Science Journal, 63 (1): 44–59. DOI: 10.3285/eg.63.1.03 Abstract: Exotic ice-rafted debris from the breakup of ice-dammed glacial lakes Missoula and Columbia is common in slackwater areas along the 1,100-km route for outburst floods in the northwestern US. A detailed analysis was performed at Rattlesnake Mountain, which lay beyond the limit of the former ice sheet, where an exceptionally high concentration of ice-rafted debris exists midway along the floods’ path. Here floodwaters temporarily rose to 380 m elevation (forming short-lived Lake Lewis) behind the first substantial hydraulic constriction for the outburst floods near Wallula Gap. Within the 60 km2 study area more than 2,100 erratic isolates and clusters, as well as bergmounds were recorded. Three quarters of erratic boulders are of an exotic granitic composition, which stand in stark contrast to dark Columbia River basalt, the sole bedrock in the region. Other exotics include Proterozoic quartzite and argillite as well as gneiss, diorite, schist and gabbro, all once in direct contact with the Cordilleran Ice Sheet to the north. Most ice-rafted debris is concentrated between 200 and 300 m elevation. Far fewer erratics and bergmounds lie above 300 m elevation because of the preponderance of less-than-maximum floods. Plus, larger deep-rooted icebergs were forced to ground farther away from the ancient shorelines of transient Lake Lewis. As floodwaters moved across the uneven surface of Rattlesnake Mountain, many erratic-bearing icebergs congregated into pre-existing gullies that trend crosswise to flood flow. Eisverfrachtete Findlinge und Bergmounds aus Ausbruchsflutwellen im Pleistozän,R attlesnake Mountain, Washington, USA Kurzfassung: Eisverfrachteter Schutt findet sich häufig im Stauwasserbereich der 1.100 km weit reichenden gigantischen Ausbruchsflutwellen aus den eiszeitlichen Missoula- und Columbia-Seen im Nordwesten der USA. Eine detaillierte Analyse erfolgte am Rattlesnake Moun- tain. Dort ist eine außergewöhnlich hohe Konzentration dieses Schutts in der Mitte des Gerinnebettbodens zu finden. Zeitweilig bildete der Flaschenhals des Wallula Gap die erste wesentliche hydraulische Verengung und ließ die Gletscherflut vorübergehend auf 380 m Seehöhe ansteigen, wodurch kurzzeitig der Lewis See gebildet wurde. Auf einer Fläche von 60 km2 wurden mehr als 2.100 Findlinge, Ansammlungen von erratischen Felsbrocken und Bergmounds registriert. Im Gegensatz zum lokal vorkommenden dunklen Columbia River Basalt bestehen drei Viertel der Findlinge aus granitartigem Material. Auch Schutt von dem ehemals im Norden verlaufenden Eisgebirgszug wie sedimentärer Quarzit aus dem Proterozoikum, Tonschiefer, Gneisgestein, Diorit, Schiefer und Paulitfels wurden hier gefunden. Ein Großteil des eis-verfrachteten Schutts befindet sich auf 200–300 m Seehöhe. Weit weniger Findlinge und Bergmounds sind über 300 m Seehöhe anzutreffen, da es überwiegend Fluten von sub-maximalen Ausmaßen gab. Außerdem liefen größere Eisberge aufgrund ihres Tiefgangs weit von der Küstenlinie des vorübergehend bestehenden Lake Lewis auf Grund. Bei der Flutbewegung über den unebenen Untergrund des Rattlesnake Mountain blieben viele Findlinge in bereits vorhandenen, quer zur Flutrichtung verlaufenden Wasserrinnen hängen. Keywords: ice-rafted debris, erratic, bergmound, Missoula floods, Wallula Gap, Lake Lewis, glacial Lake Missoula, Wisconsin Glaciation, Columbia River basalt Address of author: Bruce N. Bjornstad, P.O. Box 999, MSIN K6-81, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354. E-Mail: [email protected] 1 Introduction and Background Ice Sheet (Bretz et al. 1956; Bretz 1969; Baker 1978; Baker & Bunker 1985; Allen et al. 2009; Smith 1993; Waitt 1980, Characteristics and distribution patterns of ice-rafted de- 1985). Other sources for Ice Age floods in the area include bris (erratics and bergmounds) can provide insight into the at least one flood from ice-dammed glacial Lake Columbia flow dynamics as well as possible source(s), timing, and (Atwater 1987; Waitt 1994; Waitt et al. 2009), Lake Bon- frequency of Ice Age flood events. Erratics in the Pacific neville (O’Connor 1993) and possibly from one or more Northwest have long been recognized in areas downstream subglacial outbursts from beneath the Cordilleran Ice Sheet of the maximum extent of glacial ice (Bretz 1919, 1923a, itself (Shaw et al. 1999). The Cordilleran Ice Sheet never 1923b, 1930, 1969; Allison 1933, 1935; Bretz et al. 1956; advanced south into the mid-Columbia Basin where much Fecht & Tallman 1978; Minervini et al. 2003). Multiple ice-rafted debris came to rest. Therefore, the only plausible cataclysmic outburst floods, mostly from ice-dammed gla- explanation for high-elevation erratic debris beyond the ice cial Lake Missoula (Figure 1), are now generally accepted as front is from floating icebergs carried during outburst-flood the source for erratics beyond the limits of the Cordilleran events. 44 E&G / Vol. 63 / No. 1 / 2014 / 44–59 / DOI 10.3285/eg.63.1.03 / © Authors / Creative Commons Attribution License 120o 118o 116o 114o 49o Cordilleran Ice Sheet Columbia Lobe Colville Okanogan Lobe Lobe o 48 Glacial Lake Columbia Ice Dam o u n t a i n s M Spokane R o c k y Wenatchee Glacial Lake Missoula 47o Vantage M o u n t a i n s Missoula C a s c a d e Yakima Study Area o WA N 46 Fig. 2 ID OR o u n t a i n s Columbia R. Gorge Wallula M Gap ID MT B l u e 0 100 mi. Pleistocene lake Higher-Energy Flood Deposits 0 100 km Palouse loess (>1m thick) Slackwater Flood Deposits Fig. 1: Ice Age glacial and flood features over a portion of the northwestern United States. Abb. 1: Eigenschaften von Gletschern und Gletscherläufen im Nordwesten der USA. Although the largest Missoula floods drained within sev- bedrock-constrained reaches between basins like Wallula eral days, up to three weeks were required for the flood- Gap and the Columbia River Gorge (Figure 1). waters to completely pass through several hydraulic con- The earliest floods occurred during one of many previ- strictions along route (Waitt et al. 2009; Denlinger & ous glacial cycles >780,000 yr ago in the early Pleistocene O’Connell 2010). The first major constriction for the out- (Patton & Baker 1978; Bjornstad et al. 2001; Pluhar et al. burst floods was at Wallula Gap where, after spreading out 2006; Bjornstad 2006). The last period of flooding occurred across a 160 km-wide tract of the Channeled Scabland, flood- during the Late Wisconsin Glaciation between 20,000– waters were forced through a single, narrow opening only 3 15,000 cal years BP (O’Connor & Benito 2009) when as km wide (Bjornstad et al. 2007). During the largest floods many as 100 discrete flood events may have occurred At( - Wallula Gap and the Columbia River Gorge downstream water 1986; Waitt et al. 2009). Many of these floods were could transmit only a portion (10 +/– 2.5 million m3/sec) of proportionally small (a few million m3/sec) relative to dis- all the floodwater entering the Pasco Basin O’Connor( & charge for the largest (>17.5 million m3/sec) Late Wisconsin Baker 1992; Benito & O’Connor 2003). Subsequently, a outburst flood(s) from glacial Lake Missoula O’Connor( & huge temporary lake (Lake Lewis shown in Figure 2) backed Baker 1992). up to a maximum elevation of ~380 m (1,250 feet) behind this The majority of erratics, which consist of light-colored bedrock constriction (Bretz 1923a). Ice-rafted debris float- plutonic and metamorphic rocks, stand out in sharp con- ing in Lake Lewis was sequestered in slackwater areasalong trast to the dark, Miocene, Columbia River Basalt Group – basin margins and backflooded valleys(Figures 2 and 3). The the only bedrock native to southeastern Washington State stranded icebergs eventually melted, forever leaving behind (Figure 6). Most ice-rafted debris appears derived from the their payloads of exotic detritus (Figures 4 and 5). breakup of the Purcell Trench Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Maximum heights for the floods are indicated by strand- Sheet that temporarily dammed glacial Lake Missoula (Fig- lines, scarped hills, ice-rafted erratics, and divide crossings ure 1). Ice-rafted debris may also be associated with the final (Baker 1978). The upper limit of the ice-rafted debris de- breakup of the Okanogan Lobe that blocked glacial Lake Co- scends downstream in a stair-step fashion as floodwaters lumbia until the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation. passed through a series of constrictions en route (Baker The detailed study of the nature and distribution of ice- 1978; Benito & O’Connor 2003). Water-surface profiles of rafted erratics and bergmounds provides valuable data sets floods were relatively flat within basins but steepened in to test various hypotheses regarding the history and rela- E&G / Vol. 63 / No. 1 / 2014 / 44–59 / DOI 10.3285/eg.63.1.03 / © Authors / Creative Commons Attribution License 45 Fig. 3 Othello Yakima Rattlesnak M ount ai n e N Richland Wallula Walla Gap Walla Fig. 2: Maximum extent (up to 380 m elevation) of back flooding (Lake Lewis in blue) behind hydraulic constriction at Wallula Gap during the largest outburst flood(s). Abb. 2: Maximale Ausdehnung der Rückstauflut (bis zu 380 m Seehöhe) hinter der hydraulischen Verengung des Wallula Gap (blaue Markierung: Lewis- See). 120o o o 119 30' 119 tive sizes of Ice Age floods. Only a few previous studies ex- Slackwater Area ist for erratics emplaced by outburst floods. These include a study by Allison (1935) within the Portland Basin and later expanded upon by Minervini et al.